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How it all came about

Blick was formed in 2007 by a group of young creatives who wanted to come together to create a great workspace for creatives in Belfast. Our ambition was to create beautiful but affordable spaces for creatives to work in. Spaces for like-minded creatives to meet and share resources, ideas and inspiration. Spaces to build a sense of community and encourage, support and inspire each other. As the idea grew and evolved, Christine took over managing Blick while others in the group focused on their own creative businesses. Christine’s sister Rosy came on board as a volunteer initially to manage the financial side of the organisation. Together they have been managing Blick since 2007.

Blick provides fully serviced shared workspace and private studio space to more than 65 creatives across 3 different locations within Belfast in Northern Ireland. Blick also provides virtual office services, meeting and event spaces and runs different events, workshops and projects to help build community and support creatives in Belfast.

You can see more of our story below and find our more about our aims & values, our impact and our projects.

Currently

We have been working hard to rebuild following the pandemic and have updated the studios. We have some lovely new photos and have refreshed our website with new useful content for creatives in Belfast. In collaboration with Creating A Space, we recently created Our Time is Now, a video podcast series sharing the stories of 5 Belfast Creatives. You can find out more abour Our Time is Now below.

We are working with Belfast Design Week and VentureFolk on a new project combining design and growing to explore the potential for supporting residents to grow their own food within the urban environments of Botanic and the Holylands in Belfast.

We have also planned a new program of Summer events and workshops for Belfast creatives. We have exciting things planned for the future and are looking forward to continuing our different creative adventures and projects and supporting creatives in Belfast.

 

Our Time is Now
Esther Mogada and Macy Stewart Our Time is Now Video Podcast
2021

In 2021 we finished our Womenfolk Dig Deep Programme supporting 27 young creative women on their journey to start their own creative businesses with weekly resources including 10 industry expert videos on topics including A DIY Guide on Creating Your Own Brand, A DIY Guide on Setting up a Website A DIY Guide on Instagram and A DIY Guide on Photographing Your Work for the broader creative community.

We also worked with Belfast Design Week to launch My Block, a directory to celebrate and champion independent business and culture in Northern Ireland.

Womenfolk Dig Deep Participant Sarah Cathers
2020

In 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic closed our studios for three months. It also gave us the opportunity to run a creative enterprise programme for young women called Dig Deep which supported 27 young women over a 9-month period to start their own creative businesses.

We hosted a podcast series on the impact of the pandemic on creatives and also expanded our Popup Design Museum during Belfast Design Week. Exhibiting design work by local designers in the windows of independent venues throughout Belfast City Centre to create an interactive but covid safe activity for the public.

Belfast Design Week Billboard
2018

In 2018 we launched our sister company, creative consultancy Flock, to bring together the creatives involved with Blick to work on different multidisciplinary creative projects.

Flock Creative Consulting
2017

In 2017 we set up a new venture called Womenfolk to celebrate and promote women creative entrepreneurs.

We were excited to be involved again with Belfast Design Week in its 3rd year & new design events such as Late Night Design.

We moved from 52 Hill Street to Cotton Court in the Cathedral Quarter – a building full of creative companies.

2016

Supporting more creatives

Increased income from growing our organisation gave us the opportunity to expand the free support we provide for creative entrepreneurs, including:

  • Blick Academy for Creative Startups
  • Share 6 inspirational talks for creative entrepreneurs
  • 25 Pop-Up
  • The Faculty workshops and courses
  • Creative Business Bootcamp
  • Belfast Design Week
  • Graduate residency programme
Networking Event for Creatives
2015

Growing more

We opened Eighty81 Creative Workspace in Derry-Londonderry, providing workspace for 18 businesses as well as the Nest incubation program, creative events and support.

In Belfast, there was a growing market for our services, so we opened a second set of premises in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, providing workspace for an additional 18 businesses.

2015 was the year of Irish Design, and we secured funding to run a variety of design events and co-founded Belfast Design Week.

2015 Belfast Design Week Launch
2014

Expanding to the North West

We secured a 3-year contract to manage the creative hub in Ebrington in Derry/Londonderry to provide incubation space, workspace and events and support for the creative industries within the city.

We developed the brand and concept for Eighty81 Creative Workspace on behalf of Ilex Urban Regeneration.

Eighty81 Creative Workspace Ebrington
2012

Growing Blick

We moved into our first Cathedral Quarter premises allowing us to provide space for an additional 15 businesses.

With the premises being so close to Ulster University, we were able to connect more with students and startups and build our existing creative community through meetups and events.

Blick Shared Studios Hill Street
2010

Creative events

From 2008 – 2010 we ran a variety of events and courses to support small and startup creative businesses within Belfast, including Blick Business Blitz and the Evolve Programme.

We saw a need to create more interactive and engaging enterprise events and set up Creative Camp Belfast – an interactive un-conference style event designed to connect local creative entrepreneurs and encourage them to share their stories and speak on various topics.

Networking event for creatives at the Black Box Belfast
2008

Moving into Malone

With support from Ulster University and Belfast City Council we moved into our first permanent space at 51 Malone Road.

We focused on becoming independently sustainable by renting our studio spaces, event spaces and offering virtual services. By the end of 2008, we provided space to 15 different creative businesses.

Blick Shared Studios Malone Road
2007

By Creatives, for Creatives

Blick was set up by a group of creative entrepreneurs struggling to find suitable creative studio space in Belfast.

Our first studio was a rented warehouse in the City Centre which we set up with the help of £5,000 from UnLtd.

Plant in Blick Shared Studios Hill Street

Stay in the

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Wednesday Workspace. Working from our Hill St studios today. A lovely cosy oasis of calm away from all the Christmas hustle and bustle 

#creativeworkspace #creativehub #studiospace #belfastcitycentre #belfastcathedralquarter
Last chance to sign up to attend our Autumn creative talks and meetup tomorrow evening at 8pm in our Malone studios 

Just a few tickets left:

https://blickstudios.org/events/blick-autumn-meet/
Join us for a drink and to meet and hear from some amazing local creatives at our Autumn meet this Wednesday

https://blickstudios.org/events/blick-autumn-meet/
Our next Blick Animation Club event is on Sat 2nd December in our Malone Studios

These mini animation master classes by Can Do Academy are a great introduction for children to the colourful world of Lego animation!

The workshop will allow participants to make a complete animated Lego film on an iPad, using sound effects, visual effects, titles and lots of imagination!

Your child will learn to use special iPad apps and they will receive a copy of their film at the end of the session! They can bring their own Lego characters or use the ones supplied by us.

More info at candoacademy.co.uk

Please note that these workshops are suitable for children aged 7+

Event Date(s): December 2, 2023

Event Time: 2pm – 4pm

Location: Blick Studios, 51 Malone Road Belfast BT9 6RY

Cost: £17 + Booking Fee

Book through our website (link in profile)
Here's the first exercise from our new resources for creatives section on our website for anyone who missed it last week and wants to spend sometime reflecting on their creative idea and what they hope to experience and achieve!

Developing and Defining Your Creative Idea Exercise: Getting To Know Yourself

The first exercise on our new resources for creatives section on our website is a lovely activity for a Sunday afternoon or evening.

Perfect for some gentle reflection it's all about getting to know yourself to help you to define and develop your creative idea.

Better understanding yourself as a person, what drives and motivates you, your hopes and dreams, strengths and weaknesses, will help you define your creative idea. It will steer you to an idea that makes you happy and fulfilled and fits with your life, your goals and your aspirations.

Below are some prompts for you to explore to help you make the right decisions for you. Not just the easy or expected choices, but ones that really make you come alive and help you create the life that you really want.

- Are you living the life that you want?
- If not, what do you need to change?
- What is your dream life and lifestyle?
- Are you earning the money you need to live your dream life?
- What do you think are your strengths?
- What do you think you could work on?
- What skills would you like to develop?
- How would you like to challenge yourself?
- How would you like to challenge yourself?
- What would you most like to achieve in life?
- What do you most like to do?
- What makes you come alive?
- If you were to look back on your life, what would you most regret not doing?

You can also download the exercise as a PDF or Word document from our website (link in profile)
Here's another reminder of our Creative Roundup of upcoming events, opportunities, funding and support for creatives

Full listings including links on our blog: https://blickstudios.org/blog/11591/ or find the link in our profile
- -  B L I C K    A U T U M N    M E E T  - -

Autumn get-together for creatives to gain inspiration and connect with other like-minded creatives

- - - - - - - - - - - 

An informal Autumn get-together for creatives in Belfast. Featuring 2 local creatives sharing their creative journeys and talking about perfectionism and their creative work. They will each share their creative journeys and talk about how they deal with perfectionism and explore the role of perfectionim within their creative practice and how they have learnt to move past perfectionism to bring their creative ideas to life.

Speakers to be announced shortly!

Event Date(s): November 22, 2023

Event Time: 8.00pm

Location: Blick Shared Studios, 51 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 6RY

Cost: Free

Book tickets on our website (link in profile) or visit: https://blickstudios.org/events/blick-autumn-meet/#booking
Delighted and relieved to have recently finished our updated website and made it live. It took a while to put together all the copy, but we are really pleased with the end result and the options it gives us for sharing content now and in the future. Making our website a useful resource for creatives starting out as well as for promoting our organisation and the services we offer.

https://blickstudios.org/